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30 Days Wild: Days 27 – 30 (The Final Round-Up)

With this post going live 30 Days Wild officially comes to an end for me, and while it’s been an odd month for me personally, having this challenge to look forward to and work on each day has been great fun and the amazing variety of plants, insects and birds I’ve seen has been brilliant. I am definitely an amateur wildlife spotter but I feel like this challenge always encourages me to pick up new skills and push myself to identify what I’m enjoying and learn a bit more about what I’m seeing.

It’s meant that even the most common and often sometimes ‘mundane’ plants and animals have become fascinating to me, and now I can’t go outside without noticing them all. I ended up doing this mostly as a photography challenge, as well as a wildlife challenge, but next year I really want to get involved in some local voluntary activities and do a little ‘more’, but having said that I’m proud of what I got done, all things considered, and it’s also been amazing to see all of the amazing spots and finds on Twitter and the Facebook group too.

So here are my final spots and finds for the last four days of the challenge!

This adorable male blackbird was foraging in the garden, and when he spotted me he seemed to stand up a little straighter and puffed his chest out to ‘pose’ for my camera for a few seconds before going back to what he was doing and then flying off into the sunshine. What I love most about this is the ‘smile’ on his face in the first photo – at least I convince myself it’s a smile!

The lavender’s flowers had begun to open today and I love how delicate and dainty they are, not to mention the beautiful colour of them too.

This sedum was planted here before we moved in, but the lovely golden colour that comes out every summer is always a joy to see and while it was raining on this day the brightness of these flowers was bringing the sunshine in another form for us instead.

For the final day I headed to my favourite place, St Bees, and watched the waves gently rolling in as the sun began to set. There is a sand martin colony along the cliffs here and I spent some time watching them before heading back home, feeling a lot calmer and happy to have completed the challenge for another year, with the pastel coloured skies over the water a nice and welcome end to the challenge.

I also wanted to share with you just a few of my favourite wild moments above as this year was probably one of the ones where I went out of my way to try and do something different and varied each day, even if it was still just spending some time in the garden, I tried hard not to repeat my photos too much, or at least switch them up a little in terms of weather or time of day, but these four photos above, were just some of my favourite days.

From top left to bottom right they are; a sawfly sitting in a buttercup, the lovely local cows sunbathing, the first fuschia blooms of the year and the lovely rocky streams at Dodd Wood.

For those of you who also took part, how did you find the challenge?

What was your favourite moment, or spot?

What do you want to do differently next year?

I’m taking a brief break from the blog for about a week or so (hopefully just a week though) as the next couple look set to be busy ones, and after the 30 Days Wild Challenge it’s nice to have some blog-free time, but I’ll be updating my Twitter regularly so that’s the best place to go and follow me to stay up to date with any new wildlife/nature photos! In the meantime I’m planning on having a decent blog catch up with you all as well as replying to all comments, so bear with me!

Hope you’re all having a great weekend and I hope you all enjoyed following this year’s 30 Days Wild challenge with me.

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25 thoughts on “30 Days Wild: Days 27 – 30 (The Final Round-Up)”

A lovely end to your 30 Days Wild and I’ve really enjoyed seeing your photos this month (especially all the ones of the sea!). I think my favourite wild day/moment was the cotton grass on day 3 as it’s a favourite plant and it was one of the few days I went beyond the garden!

Next year I hope to just have more time for 30 Days Wild and if I can, I’d like to plan in some trips or different days to make up for a month of garden photos this year. I’d love to have a weekend by the sea and perhaps visit a couple of nature reserves I’ve never been too before.

Thank you so much Louise, and as always you’ve been an inspiration and a drive to keep me going and carrying on with the challenge, so thank you! You got some stunning shots this year and I hope that in 2018 you get more time and can enjoy it more too as I know you felt a bit rushed with it this year, but you did amazingly all things considered! ❤

OHHHH – the cows. I love cows. Why I’m a vegetarian… I just want to hug those pretty eyed creatures.
I love this challenge has made you just seek nature in a whole new light. Makes me want to try this.

Hi Natasha and my apologies too for not visiting until now! I have truly enjoyed your glorious nature photos here, especially the lavender as purple is my favourite colour! St Bees is a special spot too, I can tell!
Happy weekend!

Some amazing images. Time immersed in wild places with wild things will always smooth one’s path and help to right a wrong. I have been doing this since I was eight years old and nature writ large has never failed to be a balm for all that has ailed me at any juncture in my life. It continues to do so. It will until I take my last breath. Enjoy it always, Natasha.

Whose Tasha?

I'm a 27 year old nature lover, gemstone enthusiast, geography nerd and all round smiley person. I love taking photos and getting outdoors, as well as staying creative and learning new things. I run two blogs; one my own little digital journal, the other, an archive photo diary with a nature focus. I hope both of them make you smile, and inspire you!